History of JoM'y

Years ago, it was to pursue B Tech from CUSAT that Vishnu Govindan moved to Kochi from his hometown Kottayam. That migration became a turning point in his life as it was this city which gave him all resources to become a theatre artiste, assistant director, film actor and now, a film maker. Vishnu is now popular among the film followers as Jomy, after the humorous character he essayed in Tovino Thomas-starrer Oru Mexican Aparatha (OMA). Vishnu was the associate director of OMA director Tom Emmatty during his ad film days. “I knew him from the days of Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi, in which I appeared in a small role. Tom chettan was there to shoot the making video.”

“Since then, we have been good friends and later, I joined as his assistant in ad films. I was with him even when he started the scripting of OMA. He reserved the role of Jomy for me then itself,” says Vishnu. The actor feels that the director has given maximum details about Jomy in the film, though it is just a supporting role. “In the film, he has shown the family background, love and more details of Jomy. Yet another interesting thing is that Jomy was created with many real incidents from the lives of Tom’s friends. For example, he has a friend who has five sisters as shown in the film,” says Vishnu, who is all set to come up with his debut directorial venture.

The film History of Joy has Vishnu Vinayan, son of director Vinayan in the lead role. “After college, I joined as an assistant director with Joshy Mathew sir. It was later that I debuted as actor in Amal Neerad’s Iyyobinte Pusthakam in which I essayed the younger version of Chemban Vinod Jose. When it comes to my film, it was last year that I zeroed in on this project which I wrote along with my friend Anoop. Vishnu Vinayan is my friend and when I thought about the cast, I found him apt for this role,” he says. Quizzed about the status of the film, he says, “I have completed the shoot during the schedule break of OMA. The post production is on. Hopefully, it will reach screens in May.” Vishnu is currently acting in Mohanlal’s Villain and Prithviraj’s Vimanam.